Neato, looking at the figure I cannot help, but wonder if instead of skin if it was originally supposed to be black to match the pants. Is there any other figure that looks nothing like the actual cartoon character?

There could be a lot of explainations for this. One possiblity is that, yes, he was meant to wear a skin tight top but that detail got lost somehow.

Another one is that the toy's design wasn't quite hammered out when they started production of the show, so Shredder ended up resembling an earlier design in the show.

What I think is the most likely explaination however, is that they're different takes on the comic design. The show actually takes fewer liberties with how Shredder originally looked, only really adding color and a cape. If you compare the show and the toy to the comic, you'll see that the cape is really the only deviation the show and toy share. The cape was proably meant to give the toy another accessory for kids to play with, and so it was a demand from Playmates that he needed to look more or less like the comic except a cape. I guess it went down something like this:

"Look, Freddie, we're gonna use that comic to base them toys on, ya' see? Just make 'em mo' or less look like da comic. Just pick da colors we want, put letters on they'se belts and put a cape on da cheese grater."

I'm sure there were many scenes with Shredder going to sleep without having his armour on but y'know when you're on the job you have to look presentable, it's as simple as that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeandRaph87

Neato, looking at the figure I cannot help, but wonder if instead of skin if it was originally supposed to be black to match the pants. Is there any other figure that looks nothing like the actual cartoon character?

Only neatoman finds this stuff.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Original TMNT Cartoon Fan

In the TMNT Adventures, he wears it even in the desert of Saudi Arabia.

Shredder is clever. That's a good way to lose weight.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

That one episode where he used a hologram device to make him look like he's just wearing regular clothes... when he could have just taken the armor off.

That brings a slightly scary thought that while in hologram he was actually walking around naked.

[QUOTE=pferreira;1748152]I'm sure there were many scenes with Shredder going to sleep without having his armour on but y'know when you're on the job you have to look presentable, it's as simple as that. /QUOTE]

There weren't many scenes with Shredder sleeping at all.

__________________
Because of continuity and timeline errors, I've given up writing fanfiction about the 1987-1996 series. Instead, I'm trying to reboot the TMNT as many other fanfiction writers do:

Dude, you're in a massive alien battle tank commanded by an alien from another dimension. His whole army of rock soldiers are waiting to invade planet Earth. Your colleagues are a rhino and a warthog, you use an interdimensional portal that splits your atoms apart to allow you travel to another planet or if you're lucky you use a a carriage with a massive drill attachment to get deep underground through lava. You also must contend with four mutant turtles who are teens along with their master who's a giant rat continually foiling your plans. I would get a bit of insomnia myself.

I think it's weirder though, that Mirage Shredder (or the undead worm abomination version thereof) took off his armor to duel with Leonardo in "Return to New York". It was a cool dramatic sequence, but removing one's armor is the opposite of preparing for a battle.

And, if he didn't want his armor on (for whatever reason) why did he wait for Leo to show up before he took it off?

It's like he was sitting there for hours thinking "as soon as one of those turtles gets here, I'm going to make him watch me take my armor off, and it'll look cool and bad-ass! Who cares if it makes sense?"

I think it's weirder though, that Mirage Shredder (or the undead worm abomination version thereof) took off his armor to duel with Leonardo in "Return to New York". It was a cool dramatic sequence, but removing one's armor is the opposite of preparing for a battle.

And, if he didn't want his armor on (for whatever reason) why did he wait for Leo to show up before he took it off?

It's like he was sitting there for hours thinking "as soon as one of those turtles gets here, I'm going to make him watch me take my armor off, and it'll look cool and bad-ass! Who cares if it makes sense?"

Maybe the armor slowed him down and he wanted to fight Leonardo at his most fastest yet most vulnerable.

You know, I was more bothered by 2012 Shredder always wearing his armor than the 1987 Shredder. Shredder was a businessman in the 2012 series. Seems he would only put on his armor when he has to fight or just feels like wearing it around the house...erm...lair. Doing business in the armor just looked stupid to me.

2k12 Shredder was also hideously disfigured. Maybe he had self image problems?

__________________
M.D.K.
Maim! Destroy! Kill!!!

"When my time comes, I wanna be buried face down, so those who don't like me can kiss my ass!"

The show actually takes fewer liberties with how Shredder originally looked, only really adding color and a cape. If you compare the show and the toy to the comic, you'll see that the cape is really the only deviation the show and toy share. The cape was proably meant to give the toy another accessory for kids to play with, and so it was a demand from Playmates that he needed to look more or less like the comic except a cape. I guess it went down something like this:

"Look, Freddie, we're gonna use that comic to base them toys on, ya' see? Just make 'em mo' or less look like da comic. Just pick da colors we want, put letters on they'se belts and put a cape on da cheese grater."

It's not really a deviation Shredder wore a cape in the comics before the toy.

I was watching a youtube video the other day of someones TMNT toy collection and the guy had a custom made grey shirt on shredder, along with the original purple cape.
It actually looked pretty neathttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiCffc0X-jA

But if he is inside the Technodrome with Krang, Bebop and Rocksteady, recognizing him isn't a big deal...

Cartoon characters tend to only have one outfit only. April was always wearing(except in the Red Sky episodes and a few other exceptions) that yellow jumpsuit of hers, which leads us to believe she never washed it... which really says something since she went in the sewers very often. Yuck

It's basically less work for the animators. Characters have their trademark look and that's what they present/sell them as. You see Shredder in his armour and helmet all the time and that makes you want to buy his action figure more.

Interestingly, it seems anime/manga characters change their outfit way more often than American cartoon characters do. Dunno why they go the extra mile to do that, but it's nice to see how creative they can get with the new outfits and clothes they give characters throughout a series.

__________________

Quote:

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

So I've watched some of April O'Neil's "videos." They were OK, the lesbian massage ones were the best ones. I skimmed through some of the others, but eh.